 "The unfinished bridge between Samne Ghat and Ramnagar town (right) has forced people to bank on a pontoon bridge which can only handle two- and three-wheelers. Photo: N Sundaresha Subramanian")
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is proud of his Samajwadi Party (SP) government’s infrastructure achievements and often showcases the 302-km Agra-Lucknow Expressway, completed in record time. But, for residents of Varanasi’s Samne Ghat, it is not the highway that comes to mind. It is an unfinished bridge that stands as a testimony to the infrastructure record of not one but two SP governments.
The pillar-mounted bridge, about a couple of km long, connecting Samne Ghat and Ramnagar town across the Ganga was conceived nearly 15 years ago and has been a work in progress for 10 years. While about two dozen pillars are in place and most have been connected by girders, the middle three pillars are still unconnected. Construction work has dragged on and locals have been forced to use a pontoon bridge, usually used in emergency situations, for daily commute.
The pontoon bridge is not good enough for cars or heavy vehicles, limiting traffic to two-wheelers and three-wheelers. Even the dirt track leading up to this pontoon bridge is hardly maintained and can turn slippery and dangerous after rainfall. The pontoon bridge is in any case unusable in monsoon, locals says.
Govind Biswakarma, a Samne Ghat resident involved in the furniture business, says, “The bridge is an important link for students commuting to the BHU (Banaras Hindu University) and patients going to a new hospital from Ramnagar.” In 2015, a Super Specialty Trauma Centre was opened by BHU’s Institute of Medical Sciences on the road to Ramnagar. As the bridge construction gets delayed, ambulances and emergency vehicles have to take a bypass, which increases the distance by 10-15 km.
If the bridge becomes a reality, Ramnagar Fort, ancestral home of the Maharajah of Banaras, can be better integrated to the tourist circuit and alternative routes opened for vehicles bound for Chandauli and Mughalsarai, locals add.
Babloo, another Samne Ghat resident, adds he himself has seen construction of the bridge going on for several years. “It started when Mulayam Singh Yadav was in power. Work stopped after Mayawati came to power.” Work restarted when Akhilesh Yadav became the chief minister. “No idea when it will be open.”
While access roads at both ends of the bridge seem to be ready, the connection between pillars 7 and 9 looks like the last bit that has been left unfinished. Records show tenders were floated for this job as late as May last year.
The bridge across the mighty Ganga was first conceived by the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government that ruled the state during 2006-07. Then public works department minister Shivpal Yadav, uncle of chief minister Akhilesh, had laid the foundation stone in January 2007. But, there was no progress during the BSP rule that followed.
When the current government took charge, Public Works Minister Surendra Patel, member of the legislative assembly from neighbouring Sevapuri, had targeted completion by 2013.
As late as last August, the chief minister had inspected work on the bridge as part of his series of inspections of construction across the area and directed completion by October, some reports had said.
Biswakarma says work seems to have completely stopped after announcement of the state election. The BJP has a better chance in this election, he adds, and hopes that whoever comes to power takes steps to complete the bridge to Ramnagar.
